QMI Agency

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has put aside his wish for a lucrative bout with Manny Pacquiao and instead will battle Miguel Cotto on May 5 for the WBA super welterweight title.

Mayweather has been granted a licence by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to fight Cotto, 37-2, a three-division world champ, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The commission asked Mayweather about the plea bargain he made in a recent criminal case. He faces an 87-day jail sentence on domestic violence charges stemming from a September 2010 incident with his ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of three of his children.

The sentence was supposed to begin Jan. 6. But the judge deferred his date to June 1 after his attorney argued to let him fight May 5 to honour an existing deal with the MGM Grand and because a Mayweather fight would inject $100 million into the ailing Las Vegas economy.

Mayweather, 42-0, will step up in class from his customary welterweight.

The Mayweather and Pacquiao camps have been unable to agree on a date for a showdown between the top two pound-for-pound boxers.